News In Brief

December 1, 1986

Seoul

South Korea's main opposition party ended an overnight sit-in yesterday that was called to protest the massive police force used to prevent a major opposition rally a day earlier. About 100 party officials, vowing to continue their fight for a new constitution, left the headquarters of the opposition New Korea Democratic Party by mid-morning Sunday, officials said. Lee Min-woo, president of the party, warned if repression continues, the party will no longer seek change through dialogue and compromise but will launch a campaign to overthrow the government.

On Saturday, riot police fired tear gas at thousands of protesters to foil a downtown rally planned by the NKDP. About 70,000 riot police were deployed and more than 2,000 people arrested. The government banned the rally, saying the opposition was trying to stir social unrest.

Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger will fly to Europe and northern Africa this week for consultations that are expected to be dominated by nuclear arms control issues and recent developments in the Middle East. The defense secretary's main purpose on the eight-day trip is a regularly scheduled meeting of NATO defense ministers. But he is also making a special sidetrip to improve relations with Morocco, and will have to allay European concerns about President Reagan's decision last week to break out from the restrictions of the SALT II nuclear arms accord.

Union Carbide allowed to sell India property

A judge lifted a freeze on the sale of Union Carbide property yesterday, but ordered the US-based multinational to maintain $3 billion in assets to cover claims by more than 500,000 victims of the Bhopal toxic gas leak. District Judge G.S. Patel, in lifting a Nov. 17 ban, cleared the way for the company to proceed with its financial restructuring plan, including the sale of its corporate headquarters building.

French students protest bill on university reform

The French government halted debate on Friday on a bill aimed at reforming university entrance requirements after hundreds of thousands of students demonstrated against the measure. Education Minister Ren'e Monory told the National Assembly to send the measure back to committee for further study. An estimated 92,000 university and high school students marched through the Latin Quarter in Paris Thursday and others gathered towns across France to protest the bill.

An Argentine Supreme Court ruling that effectively legalized divorce has heightened controversy over the issue. In the 3-to-2 decision, the high court struck down an article in the country's marriage laws that barred the right to remarriage while an original spouse was alive. The ruling coincided with a bitter debate among legislators and Roman Catholic church officials over a congressional bill to legalize divorce.

Legal sources said that as a result of the ruling divorced people wishing to remarry would have to go before the courts on a case-by-case basis to be declared eligible.

Taiwanese dissident barred from island nation

Hsu Hsin-liang, a leading Taiwanese dissident, was barred from a flight to Taipei yesterday, an airline official said. He had planned to return to Taiwan after seven years of self-exile in the US and had said he would ``fight for democracy'' in Dec. 6 elections. Five other dissidents were denied entry to Taiwan last month.

Kilauea volcano's lava streaming into Pacific

A lava flow from Hawaii's Mt. Kilauea has destoyed nine homes and is now streaming into the Pacific. The waist-high flow poses no immediate threat to more homes, but shows no sign of ending in the near future, said Tom Wright, scientist-in-charge of the US Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. By Saturday morning, the flow covered about 600 feet of shoreline and had pushed 90 feet out into the water, creating nearly an acre of new land.

Gorbachev calls for struggle against religion

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has called for an uncompromising struggle against religion in the largely Muslim Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan, according to an Uzbek newspaper. Mr. Gorbachev issued his call in a speech to Uzbek Communist Party and government officials in Tashkent, the republic capital, on his way to India last week. Tashkent is the seat of the officially-approved Muslim Board for Central Asia, an area where Islamic traditions and beliefs remain strong despite almost 70 years of Communist rule.

Israeli could face death sentence in N-case

Mordechai Vanunu, who allegedly told a London newspaper that Israel has more than 100 nuclear weapons, was charged Friday with aiding an enemy and could face a death sentence, the Israeli Justice Ministry said. Israel is technically at war with several Arab nations, but no specific enemy was named. The former nuclear technician is accused of giving the Sunday Times (London) classified information he allegedly obtained at the Israeli nuclear facility where he worked.

FCC OKs sale of Ch. 68 to Monitor Syndicate

The transfer of ownership of Channel 68, WQTV, an independent television station in Boston, to The Christian Science Monitor Syndicate Inc. has been approved by the Federal Communications Commission. David E. Morse, president of the syndicate, the marketing and distribution arm of the international daily newspaper, said the sale of the station was signed by principals of WQTV Inc. of Santa Monica, Calif., following the FCC notification. Mr. Morse also announced that Ginsberg and Associates Inc., a broadcast consulting firm based in Washington, has been contracted to operate the station, effective immediately.

Morse said that over the next few months Channel 68 will be introducing a number of programming changes consistent with the public service commitment and public affairs orientation of The Christian Science Monitor.

Cary Grant, Hollywood's master of the debonair

Cary Grant, who passed on here Saturday, starred in 72 films, many, like ``The Philadelphia Story'' and ``Bringing Up Baby,'' considered classics of Hollywood's Golden Age. Mr. Grant's movie career began in 1932 and filled the screen until 1966 with an image of easy charm and quizzical surprise, sometimes frustrated by the antics of females, sometimes quietly dangerous.

Although nominated, he never won an Oscar, Hollywood's most coveted award for acting. But at the 1970 awards ceremony Grant was presented a special honorary Oscar ``for his unique mastery of the art of screen acting.''